Carlos Alcaraz, ranked second in the world, was unable to retain his Buenos Aires title. Nicolas Jarry defeated Carlos 7-6, 6-3 in an hour and fifty-five minutes in the semifinals. With hopes for a stronger showing in Rio de Janeiro next week, the Spaniard is still without a championship since Wimbledon in July of last year.
Jarry was leading the tiebreak and there were no break opportunities in the first set. In the second set, the Spanish player took the lead early on but lost the lead quickly. To earn a spot in the sixth ATP final, Nicolas recorded two breaks and won the match in straight sets.
In the first game of the match, Carlos won the point through a serve, and in the second game, Nicolas won at the net to tie the score at one.
After a smash winner in game three, the defending champion produced another hold at love. In game four, the opponent made a forehand error and the player reached deuce on the return.
Maintaining composure, Jarry scored the next two points to seal a 2-2 victory. Alcaraz continued his run of success after the opening stroke, winning game five 3-2 with another hold at love. In the seventh game, the Spaniard went 16 from 16 on the serve, finishing with a service winner to maintain pressure on the opposing side.
In game nine, Jarry scored his first return points, getting as far as deuce before Alcaraz sealed the deal with a serve winner.
Nicolas Jarry defeated Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals.
In the eleventh game, the Chilean locked the match at 5-5 and extended the struggle, but not before the Spaniard was two points from winning the set.
In games 11 and 12, they performed a good job of serving, establishing a tiebreak following Nicolas’ strong serve at 5-6. Carlos gave himself a 4-1 lead after making two double faults to begin the match. Jarry went up 5-1 on a winning forehand and gained five set points on a winning serve.
After an hour, Carlos lost the breaker 7-2 after netting a straightforward forehand. This put his opponent ahead. With three break points at the start of the second set, the Chilean missed a backhand. With his victory in the second, the Spaniard gave the game its first break.
After a forced error in game two, Alcaraz gave Jarry a break opportunity rather than building on that. Carlos came close to saving it with a winning serve but lost on the second when Nicolas’ deep return caused the world number one to err.
After a poor backhand in game six, Alcaraz faced another break point despite their strong serving performance in the first three games. After Jarry’s erroneous drop shot, the young gun disputed it with a forehand winner and held. Nicolas pushed for a return in the following game, capping the seventh one after a deuce.
To build a break opportunity, the Chilean withstood a baseline rally on his backhand and launched an attack from the weaker wing. After losing service and falling behind 5-3, the Spaniard moved closer to the exit door after netting a forehand. In game nine, Jarry served for a career-high win and thwarted a break point with a tremendous serve.
Carlos won the second break point with a winning lob, and Nicolas blew a match point with a double fault. After Alcaraz made a backhand error, Jarry created the second match point by smashing the winner to deny it. To complete the transaction and celebrate a career-best victory, the Chilean forced the Spaniard’s error.